New, Lively, Neighbors
by NCISVILLE
Summary: It's based on the season 2 finale final minute with more that we never got to see so it is what happened after the cute, "Hey Neighbor." That Ben said with his so cute trademark Ben smile. One Shot.


**Disclaimer: Don't own the show and i'm kinda glad about that. Because i mean can you imagine all the work involved. phew. **

**Author's Note: I didn't plan on posting this for another two days but i couldn't help myself i worked myself up and got all psyched so here's another Ben and Kate story that i hope you'll have fun reading.**

**New, Lively, Neighbors**

Kate opened the door to her new apartment and looked around. It felt so warm and cozy and everything home should feel like. Maybe Ben's guy was worth all the awkwardness that came with the apartment, after all it did come with the terrace she always wanted. She walked in with the big awkward sized box in her hands and closed the door with her foot. She set down the box and sat the hand chair that screamed prison orange. Kate stared at Justin's housewarming gift that she had already brought in and got up to pour a glass of wine first. She grabbed a bottle of red wine and looked around for something to pull out the cork. Upon finding nothing she used her teeth to pop it open and then sent the cork flying as if it had done it all on its own. She took put her record player and put on one of her favorites that she always listened to. Kate made her way back to the chair and took a sip of wine before digging out the card that came with the gift. She read it and took a shaky breath their breakup still fresh in her mind. It was the right thing to do but far from the easy thing to do. Maybe now she would be able to give Ben a chance. She re-read the black inked letters formed to say, _Courage is an Angel, Love J. _ She set down her glass of wine with the card and got on her knees to un-wrap the gift. She tore the right corner and exposed two white canvases with the exposed form of an Angel wing. She laughed under her breath and tore open the rest of it tracing the outlined 3-D shape of the abstract Angel's wings. She smiled and hung them up on the wall and stood back to look at them. Satisfied that they were level she grabbed her glass of wine and opened up the French doors leading to the terrace that she always dreamed of having in her apartment. Kate was oblivious to all her surroundings except for the beautiful night sky and the view that her apartment. If she hadn't been so absorbed in the view perhaps she would have felt a familiar presence sooner than when he began to speak.

"Hey." Said that voice she knew all too well. It was the voice she dreamed about hearing when she woke up and the voice she didn't want to hear beside her. Her mouth dropped open in disbelief and shock as she turned to the voice. There in front of her, next door, stood the man of Irish decent wearing a grey shirt with the cuffs rolled up, playful smiling eyes, a genuine smile on his lips, one-hundred fifty-three pound seven ounce, rosy cheek, Ben Grogan. "Neighbor." He finished flashing his trademark Ben Grogan smile at her.

"Oh my dear Jesus." Kate whispered saying the first thing that came to mind.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's more of a dirty blonde, but hey I'll take it as a compliment." Ben said maintaining his composure.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked alarmed still unable to process the fact that Benedict Yancy Grogan, the man she liked, and her partner at Reed and Reed was standing on the terrace next to her apartment."

"Uh…I live here." He stated as if it was a wide known fact.

"Oh my god, you!" Kate said as things began to click in her mind and memories flashed.

"Me." Ben said confused at what was rolling through her head which was displayed by his raised eyebrow.

"You're the guy." Kate said with a laugh as things finally made sense to her. His persistence at her using his guy, he did just to try to get her next to him so it was harder for her to deny all she felt and all that had transcribed between them. "There was no guy! It was you! You wanted me to see this place because you knew I'd love it and stay."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Katie." Ben said keeping cool and not blowing his poker face. He sipped at his glass of scotch and kept his eyes on Kate.

"You've known. You knew." She said incredulous that she hadn't realized it before.

"You knew that after I saw this place that I would love it, Justin would hate it and you knew I'd have to decide and break up with him. You've been acting all sweet and innocent and hurt, making me have to choose, and making me rethink my whole relationship with Justin. All this time all you wanted was me. You said 'too late' but you kept fighting because you care even though you don't want to-"

"Whoa slow down there." Ben said cutting Kate off who wasn't so much talking to Ben as she was herself realizing the real reason behind everything Ben ever did for her.

"You make me feel so guilty when you walk in the room and act crushed when there's talk of Justin and me."

"IT'S NOT AN ACT!" Ben shouted looking into her eyes unable to control the emotion sparked in him when she called his turmoil an act. "It's not an act." He repeated softer and looking out ahead of him. Kate looked taken aback and a little sorry for making him yell. "It's never been an act Katie." He said looking at her with sad eyes. "I am hurt, and I am crushed. You belong with me Kate, why can't you open your eyes and see what everyone else can. "He said hurt. He took a sip of his scotch and said to the ground, "God you make sound like I'm singing a Taylor Swift song." Kate laughed a little and Ben half smiled. "I want you more than anything else Katie." He said looking at her with softer eyes and a softer tone. Kate just stood there with pain and guilt and anguish evident in her eyes. Ben had his glass in one hand and was leaned over his forearms resting on the railing. "Every day you smile and laugh and you tease the hell out of me when you don't even know how much that tears me apart. Every night I dream of what could have happened, what should have happened in that hot tub, where we should be now."

Kate finally spoke up but had a very soft and sorry tone with a truly sad expression. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry Ben. I thought I was only hurting myself. I'm sorry it took this long and went as far as it did with Justin to get here. I'm just… I've always been afraid of anything unknown and when something too good for me comes my way that I don't deserve I just run the opposite way screaming Bloody Mary because it's too good to be true and I don't trust the things that come to me easy. You were right in that hot tub Ben, Justin was safe, comfortable, familiar, but not right. I'll always love him but I realized that being with him I was just running away from… you, Ben. Is it still too late to have a chance?" Kate asked walking to the end of her terrace where the two terraces met. Her eyes were sad and hopeful and sorry almost like yin and yang. Ben walked over to where their terrace railing met and took her face in his hand. He had almost what could be described as two sides of a mask associated with theater. His eyes both shone sadness and happiness. He rubbed his thumb along her cheek and slowly leaned his head closer until their lips softly connected. Ben was reminded of their first kiss; it was amazing and mind blowing and it was that kiss that drove him to fight for her. Kate's hand found its way into Ben's hair and then onto his cheek. Ben was the one to break their kiss with a look of amazement.

"Better than the first." He said with a growing smile.

"And certainly not the last." Kate said with a devilish smile climbing over the railing separating them and walked into Ben's arms waiting to embrace her. She wrapped her arms around his neck while his snaked around her waist pulling them closer together. Ben's lips came down on hers and they stayed there kiss unbroken for what felt like an eternity. When the need for oxygen became a problem Kate broke the kiss and gasped taking in deep breaths of oxygen. Ben smiled and stole her breath away once more for a quick second before letting go of her waist and taking her hand into his.

He smiled and said, "Come on in neighbor, I'll show you around." Kate smiled and intertwined their fingers.

"Does this tour come with wine? Mine is on the other side. I decided to leave it when I took you up on your offer and came to the dark side." She said smiling brightly and laughing after she said 'dark side' with a Darth Vader voice.

"Maybe." Ben said laughing at her dorkiness.

"I think we're going to get along just fine, neighbor." Kate said kissing his cheek afterwards.

"Me too as long as you don't play your music too loud, neighbor." Ben said with his trademark smile opening the doors to his apartment. "Me too." He whispered again this time to himself.

**The End**

**Thanks for reading and please be sure to leave a comment. I really appreciate the comments you give because it helps me know what i need to spend more time working on and all the things i use that you liked or gave you a new perspective blah blah blah stuff like that. You get the picture.**


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